Little Mistake
by Lucillia
Summary: AU, After several centuries, the Council finally closes a loophole in the code and decides to set an example to teach the Padawans that certain actions have consequences. Unfortunately for Obi-Wan, he's that example!
1. Chapter 1

"Noticed an oversight in the code I have." Grand Master Yoda said when it was time to bring up new business. Technically this wasn't exactly new business as he had been carefully trying to bring this to just about everyone's attention for the last several centuries. Now, he was done carefully dancing around the subject and had brought hard data with him. Perhaps now, he would be able to close a rather unfair gap in how discipline for a certain infraction was carried out.

"An oversight?" Council Member Mace Windu asked, hoping Yoda wasn't bringing up what he thought he was. He had a headache, and listening to Yoda yammer on for hours about something he usually didn't bother to try understanding as he had followed his predecessor's advice and tuned the old bat out once key words were mentioned wasn't something he was looking forward to.

"To do with the rule of non-attachment it has." Yoda said.

The silence that followed this statement was that of the suppression of eleven groans or their equivalents as eleven beings barely restrained themselves from sinking their faces into their hands or equivalent appendages.

"For the last three millennia, marry we cannot. Become attached to things or people in the outside world we cannot. Say anything about one-night-stands drunken or otherwise however, the code does not." Yoda said.

There was a collective _Wait,...what?_ as the council who had discreetly turned to other activities finally processed Master Yoda's statement. This wasn't Master Yoda's usual rambling discussion that contained phrases that translated to something like "disparity in matters of discipline between males and females" and "natural breeding cycles of the human species". Master Windu ended up spitting out the water he was drinking to wash down the two painkillers he'd taken.

Finally, after several long centuries, the Council was paying attention. Finally, after centuries of watching several promising young Jedi being dismissed for one mistake while their male counterparts got off scott free despite having made an average of three more of the same mistake over their careers, the Council was listening.

"Saying dismiss them after a single error in judgment, I am not. That their actions have consequences, teach them we should. Make the same mistake twice, they should not. If make that mistake again they do, then dismiss them we should." Master Yoda said when the loud discussion that followed his announcement died down.

"What do you propose?" Master Ki-Adi-Mundi asked.

"That make this mistake, mostly the young it is. Know the consequences, they do not. Learn them later, they may not. That their actions have consequences, we must teach them. For their offspring, take responsibility they should. Make it so leave the changing and three a.m. feedings to the creche attendants they cannot." Yoda said.

"But, what about..." one of the Council members started.

In the end, it was decided that there would be a test case that would stand as an example to the others. The next time a child that was verified to belong to a Jedi was brought in either one of two things would happen: Should the child belong to a Knight or Force Forbid, a Master, the Knight or Master in question would likely be dismissed - barring extenuating circumstances - since they should already know better. Should the child turn out to belong to a Padawan - the age group most likely to engage in risky sexual behavior and not understand the consequences thereof - however, the Padawan in question would get a second chance. The Padawan in question would probably be wishing for a quiet life in the Agricorps though, since the young teen or early twenty-something boy (or girl, [though most girls had been quietly taught how to recognize the signs for free clinics that handed out birth control by their masters through a series of rather awkward discussions] or bi- or tri- gendered being) would be solely responsible for the care and feeding of his (or her, or its) infant until such a time as the child can begin its training, and for that time - which, depending on the species, could be anywhere between a couple months to a decade and a half - would be removed from the active mission roster.

**Meanwhile, Elsewhere in the Galaxy:**

"If you follow the directions on the package, nothing should go wrong." a rather attractive near-human female said.

Obi-Wan tried to read the back of the box, but his hands wouldn't stop shaking. He didn't love the girl, but there was a strong mutual physical attraction. She was three years older, and presumably more experienced in this area. He didn't want to make a fool of himself in front of her.

He took one of the small packets out of the box and tore it open. The object inside tore as well.

"Er, maybe we can go without?" Obi-Wan said, hoping he didn't sound half as nervous as he was.

**Eleven Months Later:**

Qui-Gon Jinn liked to drop by the creche and look at the new arrivals every week when he wasn't away on some mission. This time, there was only one new arrival, a newborn girl with bright red hair. Smiling, he bent down and picked her up.

"Hello there little one, welcome to the Jedi Order." he said, as he tickled her nose. She promptly sneezed on his finger. A nearby attendant giggled when she saw this.

The baby then opened her eyes, and got the most serious look on her face as she proceeded to make a mess in her diaper.

"She looked like my Padawan when she did that." Qui-Gon said chuckling as he handed the baby over to the attendant to be changed.

&%&**&%&

Obi-Wan walked into the creche. He never knew why his master liked to see the screaming brats that dwelled there. The time his master wasted playing with the babies could be better spent on other things, such as training him.

He walked over to his master who was putting a freshly changed baby into a bassinet. Feigning interest, he looked down. What he saw made him go pale. He'd recognize that peculiar shade of red anywhere as well as those pupils that were slit like a feline's. The Force was telling him that...No! It wasn't possible!

He turned and ran. It couldn't be possible. He couldn't possibly be a father at fifteen.

&%&**&%&

Master Yoda sighed as he entered the Creche. For the last eleven months, he'd been waiting for this day to come while simultaneously hoping it wouldn't. Some years there were more, some years there were less, and some years there were none. This year, there was one and it belonged to a child he'd helped train, his padawan's padawan's padawan. It was now his unfortunate duty to make an example of the young boy.


	2. Chapter 2

Obi-Wan Kenobi sat up all night wondering how he was going to tell Qui-Gon that he'd been so irresponsible as to... Master Qui-Gon had explained about puberty when he was thirteen and had told him that he wasn't ready for...That, but he had gone and done...That anyways and now there was a baby. How was he going to tell his master that he'd unintentionally created life?

But... On the other hand, nobody had to know it was his baby. It wasn't as if he or the mother were going to be taking care of it or anything. It had been given to the Order, and therefore it would be raised in the Creche, become an Initiate, and eventually a Padawan. He didn't have to have anything to do with it, and if he told someone it was his, there was a good chance he'd be kicked out of the Order like Knight Eleyna Darros was two years ago.

By dawn, he'd made up his mind. Since there was nothing he could do about it in the first place, he would do nothing about this situation, and that included not telling anyone about it.

By the end of his usual morning meditation session, he had brought the turmoil his emotions had been flung into under control.

After morning meditation, Master Qui-Gon informed him that they were to report to the Council chamber immediately.

Obi-wan swallowed nervously as he got up to go out the door.

They couldn't possibly know, could they?

After an amount of time that paradoxically seemed like an eternity, and mere moments, Obi-wan found himself standing in the center of the Council chamber. All twelve members of the council were peering at him intently.

"Know why you are here do you?" Yoda asked.

"Um, no." he replied nervously, hoping and praying it wasn't...that.

"Arrived recently a child did." Yoda said.

Obi-wan paled. They knew. This was it. He'd screwed up his last chance and was being kicked out of the order.

"Has half of your genetic signature, it does." Yoda continued.

Yep, he was screwed.

"Have anything to say about this do you?" Yoda finished.

"I-I, N-no." he stammered.

"Considering your age." Mace Windu said. "We are willing to believe that you made a foolish mistake that will not be repeated."

He wasn't sure if he should be relieved or not. Were they dismissing him, or weren't they.

"It is our decision that you will be made an example of so others do not make the same mistake that you have." Mace continued.

Oh, they were dismissing him then. He wasn't supposed to be relieved.

"Rather than foisting the responsibility of tending to the results of your ill thought actions off on the Creche attendants, **you** will be attending to the needs of your offspring." Mace continued. "Until your child is ready for training, you will be removed from the active duty roster in order to better care for it."

WHAT?

It was at that point that Mace pushed the comm button, and ordered someone to bring his child in.

He was still in shock as his brain tried and failed to fully process what was going on as the Creche attendant handed the infant and several items that were necessary for its care over to him.

Eventually, he supposed he should be relieved. On the one hand, he wasn't being kicked out of the order and sent to Agricorps or left to fend for himself. On the other however, he was going to be forced to deal with one of those screaming brats his master was fond of, and he'd be stuck at home the entire time he did so.


	3. Chapter 3

Obi-Wan hadn't been sure what had woken him from what had previously been a very sound sleep. Then, his brain finally processed what he was hearing, and it wasn't the collision warning siren he'd been dreaming about moments before he awoke, it was the screaming of a half-human/half near-human infant. Standing in the doorway waiting for him to do something was Qui-Gon who had yet to make a move to silence the infant the way he did the ones he visited in the creche on a semi-regular basis.

"I'm sorry, but my hands are tied Padawan." Qui-Gon said from the doorway. "The Council has given me my orders, and I happen to agree with them on this. You're going to have to figure out how to do this on your own."

Feeling betrayed because he'd thought that he could count on his master if nobody else, he heaved himself out of his bed despite his exhaustion. This was just one more thing he hadn't needed in his already crappy day.

Ever since the Council had handed him the child and turned him loose in order to privately debrief his master, his day had been worse than bad. Apparently, while he'd been in with the Council, everyone had gotten the memo and word of what he'd done had spread around the entire temple. Random Jedi that he barely knew by sight had walked up to him and offered their opinions on the matter straight to his face. Most of those opinions had been exceedingly negative, and some had been downright hurtful. All of them had been humiliating.

Then, there had been the jealous looks he'd received from a number of Jedi who seemed to want children of their own, and seemed to think he was being rewarded for his particularly egregious flouting of the rules. In one way, it could appear to be that way from another point of view. From his own point of view however, this wasn't anything close to a reward. He hadn't considered having children before, and now that he had one, he could categorically state that he didn't want one.

His own friends had been worse. The looks of disappointment on their faces had stung far worse than the comments he'd received from the Knights and Masters he had passed on the way to the cafeteria. Siri had been more than disappointed with him for some reason and had chewed him out after he'd explained exactly how the baby had come to be.

Finally, after facing the disappointment of his friends, he'd had too much and decided to retreat to his and Qui-Gon's quarters for the rest of the day rather than engage in Lightsaber practice like he usually did after breakfast. Being in the quarters he'd shared with his master for the last two years had not brought him a measure of peace however. The baby was there as was a small bassinet from the Creche that had been delivered while he was out along with some baby supplies.

The baby itself was a source of disquiet. Not only was it a reminder of a mistake he should never have made, but it was also a responsibility that he didn't have the first idea to deal with. In the several hours before he'd finally given up and gone to bed in hopes that tomorrow would either prove this a mistake or a nightmare or at the very least be better somehow, the baby had screamed for food several times and had messed up its diaper several times.

Had he not had the Force with him, he would have found the task of taking care of the infant's simple but incredibly urgent needs infinitely harder. Since the infant couldn't speak, the only way it could make its needs known was through wailing louder than an alert siren. When she did that, he had been able to sense a basic reason why, such as the fact that her small stomach was empty and demanding food, or that the stomach was fine but the diaper was full, or that the baby didn't quite like the way it was being held. All he'd really had to learn was how to properly prepare a bottle of formula to the infant's liking, how to hold the baby in a funny position that didn't quite match the one the Creche attendant had shown him, and how to change the infant's diaper and when to dodge when he did so.

As it was, he didn't get his evening meditation in, adding to the stress he was under while he waited for Qui-Gon to come back from where he'd wandered to and help him with the child since the other man liked babies so much and would be glad to. After not getting his evening meditation, he'd been in a decidedly unpleasant mood as he attempted to get the child to go to sleep so he himself could sleep. After nearly an hour of effort, he finally got her down in the bassinet which had been placed in the common room of their quarters and went to bed himself.

Unlike most nights in the temple, he hadn't slept the whole night through as he'd been woken by an unholy racket a few hours after he'd drifted off into an uneasy slumber. When he awoke, it was to find the bassinet from the Creche in his room and Qui-Gon in his doorway. Qui-Gon who betrayed him by forcing him to deal with the baby on his own rather than helping him like a good master who was so enamored with similar screeching "bundles of joy" should.

After half-consciously crawling out of his nice and warm bed which had been the only good thing about his day, he made his way to the small kitchen he and Qui-Gon shared and started preparing yet another bottle. His half-awake state wasn't conducive to precisely measuring and heating formula, but he did his best under the circumstances nevertheless.

She refused to take the bottle.


End file.
